Category Archives: Will of God

Endurance inspired by Hope

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This is a #FiveMinuteFriday post of a different nature. Coincidentally (are there coincidences with God?) this week’s word prompt is Hope. I trust you will be blessed by the life of my friend, Carl and his unwavering Hope.

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV.

Today we are traveling to sit with a family, who without a miracle will say their final “Goodbye’s” to their husband, dad, brother, son and friend. Diagnosed just a year ago with a brain tumor, Carl has fought hard and held on to his faith.

We first met this man over ten years ago when we assumed the pastorate of the church he attended. Carl was blessed with a most beautiful family. His wife Cinda, and four of the most adorable kids born to one family: Jessica, Ridge, Tyler and Spencer were some of the best behaved, polite and considerate kids I had ever encountered. Of course boys will be boys and if one of them didn’t give their parents fits every once in a while we would have thought something was wrong! They have all grown up to be most impressive teenagers and young adults.

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Carl loved to talk and he was very educated. Cinda would pull his coattails and try to hurry him along but Carl would be stuck on a subject, an important subject to him, and he wasn’t ready to go until he had told you all he knew.

One thing I remember about Carl was his Hope. He had Hope that his kids would grow up to serve God, stay in the Church and be a vital part, not just sit on a pew. He had Hope that the local church would grow and he worked hard to see that it did, he drove the Sunday School bus, did odd jobs around the church when necessary, and served as sound technician regularly…we all know that is a thankless job.

But Carl could handle criticism, everyone else was wrong, he was right!

Carl was always coming up with a new and unique way for the church to raise money. From sending kids to camps and conventions or a project in the church building, he was on it. Carl made (and sold!) sno cones, bloomin’ onions, cotton candy, elephant ears, funnel cakes and much, much more. He would set up at a grocery store, festivals like the local Chautauqua, and even Wal-Mart. He could have been putting the money away for his kids’ college tuition or other personal uses but instead he was out there, with his kids, teaching them the importance of working for the Kingdom.

It wasn’t just about raising funds either. They were always looking for ways to impact the community: enter Angel Food Ministries. Carl and Cinda and all four of their children would come early in the morning, once a month, to box up grocery staples for others in town. They took care of everything, and because they we’re involved, their extended family would be there as well. They were influential without even realizing it.

Carl also had Hope that no matter how crazy the world became (I would love to have heard his take on the SCOTUS decision and countless other changes we are seeing) he knew this wasn’t our final destination. He lived for two things: to see Jesus face-to-face and make sure his entire family was standing around the throne with him.

For the last year Carl’s family has held on to Hope. He has been to Mexico for experimental treatment where he left quite an impression on the way there and back. I was reading his Facebook timeline, where so many are leaving their thoughts and prayers, and came across this testimony from the desk clerk of the hotel where Carl and Cinda stayed while on their way to Mexico. Jamie Manning Sheets sums up Carl best I think:

“This man is one of the strongest Christian warriors I’ve ever met. His love for the Lord never wavered; he was only concerned for his family. His effect on people was so powerful that I’ve had guests come back to the hotel & continue to ask for updates on this wonderful man. Carl, I pray for one of God’s many miracles, but I know that either way you will continue to walk with the Lord. Godspeed my friend…. I thank you for touching my life & so many others, & being such a powerful example of one of God’s finest.”

I echo that today for this giant of a man. I am praying for a miracle that I know he will receive one way or another. I know God is able to heal him completely but I also know the greater Hope isn’t here on this terra firma, he lived for an eternal Hope. He has been able to share this Hope with countless people through his illness this past year as is evident by the testimonies of others. I am sure Carl considers that a great honor and privilege.

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV.

endurance inspired by hope

Work produced by faith
Labor prompted by love
Endurance inspired by Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This verse could have been Carl’s mantra. I pray it will become mine and yours today.

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Welcome to Malta!

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We are having a great time in Malta thus far. Our missionary friends, the Parkers, took us on a two hour road trip yesterday and tried to give us a quick glimpse of the island country. Amazing! This is the one word I keep coming back to. Beauty and ancient wonders are everywhere. (You can read how we got here, why we are here and all about the Apostle Paul’s experience in Malta here!)
Here are some pictures from our first tour.

We were even able to see the spot where the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on his way to trial in Rome! Say what?! This is beautiful St. Thomas.

The waters are crystal clear and the views take your breath away. Here is the entrance to the street where we are staying in the home of the resident missionaries. Their home is 300 years old (but beautifully updated!). So lovely. Be sure and spot the post office, the barber shop and the beautiful Maltese Balconies! I am in love with these little things already and will show you more later. (tease!)
Today we had an early morning service with the church here. So excited to meet some of the people and to share Revival By Design with them. They have implemented some of the concepts already and have a heart for revival. God is going to do great things in this country…one of the first to receive the Gospel so many years ago! Here is a picture of the garden steps into the old Anglican church that the missionaries are renting from until they get their own place. (Pray for that need, won’t you?)

We were blessed to have an entourage from the Philippines and Norway visit Christian Life Center today! With some of the local congregation absent it was nice to fill up the room with beautiful visitors from far away. Look at those smiling faces!

Okay, so their faces are lost in worship, try this group photo we took outside of the old church.

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We discovered some of these visitors knew a mutual friend of ours…yes, it truly is a small world. We worked alongside another Associate in Missions, Rachel Zehm, while we were serving in Riga, Latvia. Rachel then went on to Oslo, Norway and worked in a church there for a year or so. Some of these great people were out of that church and knew Rachel very well! What are the chances? We had opportunity to be in Oslo last summer on our way home from Tallinn, Estonia. Only for a day but Rachel was a gracious host to show us around the beautiful city in the country of Norway. (Rachel, everyone said to be sure and tell you “Hello!”)

It is siesta time here in Malta.

Oh. My. Word. Did I not tell you they took siesta??? Some, or most, of the businesses even shut down in the afternoons for a rest period.

Friends, I can’t even…I may have to move here.

And on that note, The Sweetheart is softly snoozing beside me while I type. I am still suffering with severe jet lag and even though I know you aren’t supposed to nap in the daytime with jet lag, I must get sleep sometime and it isn’t happening at night.
Blessings abundant upon you all and thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. I will have more to write later about the great things God is doing here. Here are a few more pictures around the country that we took yesterday.

Stay tuned!

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DF cover side viewHave you got my new book yet?? It is still selling like crazy even in May! So excited to bring this great FASTING devotional, not just for the Daniel Fast, but for ANY FAST! Check it out on Amazon in Kindle or paperback!

 

 

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Feelings! Whoa, whoa, whoa…

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Feelings.

Anxiety.
Worry.
Fear.
Panic.
Nervousness.
Peace.
Joy.
Excitement.
Anticipation.
Hope.
Feelings. We rely on them to be certain. “I’m gonna go with my gut.” “I feel like I am making the right decision.”
And if things don’t feel right, we might not pursue a real estate deal, take a new job, or go on a trip.
Feelings involve our heart.

Helen Keller said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

But our feelings can also keep us from excelling, from pursuing, from stepping out in faith.
Our feelings can also get in the way of the voice of God and His Word.
Look at Isaac, Jacob and Esau.
Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebekah, easily deceived his father into thinking he was actually his twin brother Esau, and in the process stole his blessing of receiving a double portion of his father’s inheritance. That meant that when the father, or patriarch, died that all of his property, everything he owned and all of his money was given to his family. But the son who held the birthright, the eldest, would receive twice as much as the other sons.
Jacob had already stolen his brother’s birthright by tempting him with a bowl of stew after he had been out hunting. Esau forfeited his birthright and the blessing by giving it away to his brother Jacob and by marrying foreign wives. “And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.” Genesis 26:34, 35.
So Isaac had sent Esau, a hunter, out to get some game, bring it back and fix him some dinner. After that, he would bestow the blessing of the firstborn upon Esau before he died. “Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” Genesis 27:4 NIV.
While the twin boys were still in their mother’s womb the Lord had spoken to Rebekah and said, “Two nations are in your body. Two tribes that are now inside you will be separated. One nation will be stronger than the other. The older son will serve the younger one.” Genesis 25:23 NKJV.     Rebekah was listening and as soon as Esau left she began to connive with Jacob, her favorite son, to receive the blessing instead of his older brother.  “And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” Genesis 25:28.     Esau’s name means hairy, and the name Jacob means heel holder, or one who takes the place of another. Some definitions also say it stands for Deceiver!
Jacob wasn’t so sure about the Great Deception and pleaded with his mother,  “’But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’ His mother said to him, ‘My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say…’”
Isaac was very old; his eyesight was not good at all so Jacob and Rebekah decided to make Jacob smell and feel like his brother, Esau. Jacob, on the other hand, was fair skinned. Rebekah prepared the food just as Isaac like it; she also borrowed Esau’s clothes and put them on Jacob. Then she took the skins of the goats and somehow attached them to Jacob’s hands and neck. They prepared, connived and worked together to pull off one of the greatest (and most heartbreaking) rip-offs in Biblical history…
When a person has lost their eyesight, they will then rely on other senses to see for them. Jacob went in to his father and Isaac immediately sensed something was not right. He HEARD Jacob’s voice, not Esau’s. Look at what he said to Jacob as soon as he walked in the tent:
“How did you find it so quickly, my son?” Jacob was quick with a reply, “The LORD your God gave me success.”
Isaac needed more assurance that it was his firstborn. “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
Finally he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” The Bible says he didn’t recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brothers so he began to bless him. He must have been uneasy because he stopped and said one more time, “Are you really my son Esau?”
He smelled Esau on his clothes, he felt Esau on the goatskins made to feel like his son but he didn’t listen to the voice…Jacob obviously wasn’t doing a good impression of his brother!
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We all do it. We think we know what is best, perhaps we even desire a different outcome than what we think the Lord will give us through prayer so we connive and deceive to get what we want, just like Jacob and Rebekah.

Was this God’s plan or did Jacob and Rebekah decide to help God along?

History reveals Isaac to have been about 135-137 years old at the time but that he lived another 40+ years!
Other times we want to believe, we trust and rely on our feelings, our situations, or our surroundings to confirm to us that we are in God’s will or are doing the right thing at the time.
But we ignore the Voice of God or His Word.
The Will of God never contradicts the Word of God!

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The Lord had promised Rebekah that the elder would serve the younger but she took matters into her own hands instead of reminding Isaac of the Lord’s promise. We know Isaac preferred Esau and either went along with the deception so he could blame it on Jacob or was so set on giving the blessing to his firstborn in spite of what the Lord had said. (Even though he knew he had married outside of the faith and had given away his birthright). This trick caused Jacob to have to move far, far away from his family because Esau was determined to take his life.
Our feelings can get in the way of our faith. Faith is just what Hebrews says it is, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1.
The English Standard Version says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Feelings will fail us but faith will sustain us even in the darkest of times!

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The Bible reminds us that we walk by faith, not by sight; not by how we feel. If our relationship with God was based on feelings…what a mess! As humans, we are up one minute and down the next, and it doesn’t have to be that way. We can put our full confidence in the Word of God and know that in every situation, even when we can’t SEE the outcome, the reasoning, etc., we KNOW that God is in control.
It doesn’t matter what you feel or what I feel, what matters is the Word of God and in that, my friend, we can put our trust.

Kingdom2

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